Scales of War

We make war that we may live in peace. -- Aristotle

43 -- Defeat of the General

4

DEC/10

The war council had come up with a plan to win the war. Reinforcements would be slowly coming in from all over Elsir Vale and since the enemy was at full strength, they would be starting a full assault. Dirkuk had learned a ritual from the Incunabulum Primeval to bolster morale for all defenders. The heroes’ job was to defend Dirkuk and the Stone Anvil until he could complete the ritual.

Out patrolling, the party found some freshly killed soldiers. Adren scouted ahead to and found some Dragonborn mercenaries behind the killings. They set up an ambush for the Dragonborn which worked very well until they were ambushed themselves!

Adren and Elan were perched atop a building out of harm’s way when they heard an unholy screech and the whoosh of flapping wings. They turned to see the undead dragon Rathoriax and his rider, General Zithruun.

Rathoriax breathed a cloud of death and poison at Adren and Elan. Adren jumped down and hung from the roof by his fingers to avoid the cloud but Elan started coughing and choking.

Then Zithruun jumped down, twirling his twin silver blades with the speed of thought. Elan, debilitated by poison, could not defend herself but she instinctively stepped through the fey realm and into a nearby building across the alley. Adren swung along the roof to avoid the blades and when Zithruun pursued, he jumped twenty feet down.

With most of the party finished off the Dragonborn, Gilbain flew up to the roof to engage Zithruun. It was an epic battle of blades and skill but the general was a veteran of countless wars and remained standing but hurt while Gilbain lay unconscious and bleeding on the roof.

Rathoriax was too large and ungainly for the roof and swooped down to pick off the ground targets. His favorite tactic was to know down his opponent with a powerful slash and turn to face another opponent while slamming his monstrous tail down on his prone enemy.

With the Dragonborn down the party concentrated on Rathoriax and were hurting the huge beast so Zithruun telekinetically stepped down from the roof to help his undead companion. He was a shrewd and wise general, but had suffered too many disgraces in his life so that when the odds were against him, he chose to fight to the death rather than suffer another unbearable humiliation. When he died, Rathoriax gathered his body and flew off.

The party felt mixed emotions of Rathoriax’s flight. On one hand they wanted to defeat such a powerful and evil beast, they wanted to ensure Zithruun was really dead, and they wanted to claim his body as a prize. On the other, half of the party lay bleeding to death and they were afraid the undead dragon would finish them all. The conscious party members wondered what would become of the dragon, and of Zithruun. Longbreath speculated that the dragon would reanimate his master as revenge and to keep himself company for the rest of eternity. The rest of the party shuddered at the thought of an undead Githyanki general plaguing Elsir Vale for eons to come.

With the Stone Anvil safe, the ritual was completed and all inhabitants of Overlook became brave and calm and knew Moradin would protect them and bolster them through the attacker’s assault.